It has long been a problem for wearers of tight-fitting footwear to effectively place their feet inside such footwear. Traditional shoe horns have served over the course of many years to facilitate insertion of a foot into footwear. While a traditional shoe horn may be sufficient in certain circumstances, it becomes highly ineffective and impractical in others.
In addition to the needs associated with placing a person's foot inside of traditional footwear, a particular need exists to facilitate the insertion of a person's foot into a type of tight-fitting, high-performance footwear. Examples include, without limitation, water ski boots, wake board boots, snow skiing boots, snowboard boots, mountaineering boots, diving footwear, diving fins, and any other conceivable high-performance footwear. Given the external forces associated with the activities requiring such high-performance footwear, an extremely tight fit between the person's foot and the footwear is often required. Certain binding systems may allow the footwear to be secured tightly around the person's foot subsequent to entry into the footwear. On the other hand, certain footwear is not intended to be secured in an after-the-fact manner about the user's foot. Rather, the person's foot must be inserted into the footwear in the tight-fitting position where the footwear will ultimately remain during use of the performance footwear.
In the particular example of water ski boots, a person is typically required to insert his or her foot into the water ski boot while in the water. This can be cumbersome and awkward, yet the fit between the person's foot and the water ski boot must remain extremely tight. In addition, there are problems associated with utilizing any type of device where the device is difficult to use or may be lost in the water.
One traditional way that person's have attempted to resolve the problem specifically relating to footwear for water sports is to use a particular type of gel or lubricious substance. Typically, the lubricious substance is smeared over the person's foot and, subsequently, the person's foot is inserted into the footwear. Problems associated with these prior methods are apparent. First, the application of such a lubricious material while a person is floating in water attempting to insert his or her foot inside a water ski boot can be extremely difficult, at best. In addition, the potential for the residue to harm the environment exists. Still further, some of the lubricious material will necessarily remain between the person's foot and the high-performance footwear for some period of time.
In view of the foregoing, there has remained a need to facilitate insertion of a person's foot into high-performance footwear of all types, particularly footwear for water sports. This need is particularly great where the high-performance footwear is intended to be used in a wet or potentially wet environment, such as water, snow, and the like. In particular, a tight fit is required for water skiing, wake boarding, and other similar water sports given the forces exerted upon the equipment during normal use. Where such a tight fit is necessary, the interference between a person's foot and the footwear that must be overcome is significant. Often it is not possible to get the proper tight fit without some type of external assistance.
In view of the foregoing, there is a need to provide a reliable, easy-to-use system for facilitating insertion of a person's foot into high-performance footwear. A particular need exists with respect to footwear for water sports.